Apparatus for treating food stuffs and the like.



G. B. FURIVIAN.

APPARATUS FOR TREATING FOOD STUFFS AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED JULYl7|191 Patented July 11, 1916.

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GEORGE E. FUBMAN, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

APPARATUS EOE TREATING JEOOJD STUEES AND THE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented my i iaie.

Application filed July 17, 1914. Serial No. 851,464.

. To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE B. FURMAN, a citizen of the United States, and resident of East Orange, county of Essex, State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus. for

Treating Food Stuffs and the like, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus for treating food stuffs and the like such as oysters, clams, vegetables, fruits, etc., for the purpose of improving the condition thereof prior to use. Heretofore attempts have been made to treat and wash such food studs by placing them in tanks or other containers and then permitting running water to flow into. said containers and occasionally stirring the food stuffs with a paddle or rinsing themby hand. 1 Such treatment is ineffective to reach the more or less inaccessible parts of the material being treated, such as the gills of oysters and the like, the spaces at the points at which the leaves of vegetables such as spinach j oin the stalks, the eyes of potatoes or the recesses of apples and similar fruits in which the stems are. located and results about and the air rising through the liquid impacts against the material and spreads apart the elements thereof so as to open up Y the usually inaccessible points and permits tilt ' parts of the the same to be readily washed free from foreign matter. In the :case of vegetables such as potatoes, or fruits such as apples the washing action extends into the remotest in all cases a thorough and-efiiciefit washing and cleaning results in a simple and eflicient manner. x My improvementfwill be fully described hereinafter and th features ofnov'elty will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Reference-is to be had to the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 is an elevation, partly in section, of an example of my improved apparatus; Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof; Fig. 3 is a cross-section on the line 33 of Fig. 2', Fig.

eyes or recesses thereof so that 4 is a detail section of a part of my apparatus; Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view of a slightly different form of said part of my improvement, and Fig. 6 is a detail elevation partly III SGCtlOII of a slightly difl'erent form of overflow trough.

As shown in the drawings my imprdved apparatus comprises a tank 5 of any suitable.

construction and dimensions adapted to contain water and provided at the upper portions of its opposite end walls with overflow openings 6 communicating with overflow troughs 7 or the like suitably secured on said end walls and having outlets 8 as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1. The tank 5 in the illustration is divided into two compartments 9 and 10 by means of a water-tight partition 11 and is further provided with inlets 12 through which the water may be introduced into the compartments 9 and 10 and with outlets 13 through which the water may be drained therefrom. Air compression chambers 14 are located at or near the bottom of the compartments 9 and 10 and are of a size to readily fit into said compartments and so as to be easily removable therefrom for the purpose to be more fully described hereinafter. 'The said chambers 14.-

if rectangular as illustrated are provided with four upright walls which together form a continuous and endless wall and in any case of whatever shape said chambers may be they are provided with a continuous and endless side wall with which the transverse major wall is connected or of which said major wall forms ,an integral continuation. In the preferred form the horizontal or 'majorwalls of said chambers 14 are corrugated as indicated at 15 and are provided with perforations'lG- preferably though not necessarily located at the sides or in other words in the more or less upwardly extending portions of the corrugations, so as to extend toward each other in adjacent rows as clearly illustratedin Fig. 3. The said chambers 14 when in operative position thus form spaces or chambers 17 at the bottom of each compartment 9 and 10 inclosed by the continuous and endless side walls ofthe chambers 14 'and connected by means of branch pipes 18 with a main pipe 19 leading to an air pump 20 or the like the latter being actuated in any suitable manner as by means of an electric motor 21. The pipes 18 may be provided with controlling valves 22 and extend through the walls of the tank 5 and have their inner ends-connected with the and 10 at a distance above the chambers 14 on angle irons secured to the walls of the tank 5 and the partition 11 and preferably incline downward toward removal openings in the front wall of said tank 5 communicating with downwardly directed spouts 26, said openings being normally closed by means of vertically sliding doors 27 having actuating handles 28 and being locked in water-tight engagement with said tank over said openings in any suitable manner-as by screws 29 passin through the spouts 26 and adapted to firmly press said doors against said tank.

In operation the compartments 9 and 10 of the tank 5 are first partly filled with water after which a supply of vegetables, fruits, oysters, clams or the like previously removed from the shells are placed therein and gradually settle down upon the plate 23. By means of the air pump or the like 20 air is now forced through the pipes 18 and 19 into the inclosed spaces or chambers 17 and beneath the major walls of the chambers 14. This air fills said spaces including the concavities 15 formed by the corrugations 15 which concavities form reservoirs for said air and thus provide for the equal distribution thereof at all of the perforations '16. As the chambers 17 are thus filled with air the water therein is forced out and the air finally escapes, through the per-fora tions 16 and rises through the perforations 24L of the plates 23 and passes through the water in the compartments 9 and 10. The

Water in this manner is disturbed by a plurality of currents of air which may intersecteach other if the perforations 16 in adj acent parallel rows project toward each other so that all parts of the supply of water in the compartments 9 and 10 are affected by and subjected to the action of said air currents. In passing the air through the water as described the oysters or the like are floated and tumbled about by the air and the agitation of the water caused thereby so that the muscles and gills of said oysters or the like are liberated and freed. In consequence of this the oysters or the like freely drink or take in water thusincreasing in sizeand Weight in a minimum of time and as the water is fresh and selected with a view'to purity this operation is a health ful one instead of an injurious process as is at present very often the ease. At the same time all dirt, slime, refuse, shell and other foreign matter is removed from the oysters orthe like so that said oysters or the like are subjected, to a thorough cleaning process which removes all foreign matter having a tendency to readily decompose and thus brings said oysters or the like to a condition of cleanliness which permits the preservation thereof in a healthy state for a much longer period of time than is possible under conditions existing heretofore. The oysters are also not roughened up, torn or otherwise mutilated in the present treatment but maintain their natural smooth surface condition, thus increasing their salability and palatability. When the above treatment has been carried on forthe desired length of time the air supply to the chambers 17 is shut off by means of the valves. 22 and the water is withdrawn or drained from the compartments 9 and 10 through the drain pipes 13. This causes the treated oysters or the like to again settle down upon the plate 23 from which they readily pass through the openings and out of the spouts 26 into suitable receptacles it being understood that the doors 27 have first been opened to permit this removal. As the plates 23 preferably incline downwardly toward said openings and spouts 26 the treated oysters or the like naturally slide toward the same thus making the removal thereof a simple and easy matter. During this process or operation the light dirt or other I foreign matter removed from the oysters or the like floats and is free to pass through the apertures 6 into the overflow troughs 7 while the slime and heavier foreign matter or refuse sinks through the perforations 24 and finally deposits itself in the depressions between the corrugations 15. These corrugations are capable of accommodating a considerable amount of foreign matter without interference with the perforations 1G or the supply of air therethrough. When necessary to secure the maximum operation of the apparatus or whendesirable for other reasons this refuse may be removed by simply removing the plates 23 and chambers 14 from the coinpartments 9 and 10 and subjecting them to a thorough and'complete cleansing. lVith this arrangement it is thus a simple matter to keep the perforations at all times free and clear for the passage of the air and for sanitary reasons so that the process may always be carried on under the most satis factory conditions. My apparatus in consequence makes it absolutely certain that the oysters or the like after being treated will be safe to eat and to preserve for a maximum length of time without danger to the ultimate consumer.

It will of course be apparent that in some 4 overflow trough shown in Fig.6.

incomes other instances the chambers it may be replaced by the chambers 14? shown in Fig. 5. The said members 14 are. provided with an exterior flat horizontal or major..outer surface and With an interior corrugated surface as clearly shown, the said members 14 being otherwise the same and operating the same as the chambers 14. The plates 23 may be used or may be omitted when the members 15 'are utilized as may be found most advisable. I

The separate compartments shown in the illustrated example of my apparatus, being independently controlled as to air supply, etc., may be coincidentally used for treating difi'eren-t materials'in different ways without interference. That is a material requiring for instance a violent treatment may be treated in one compartment while at the same time another material-requiring for instance a mild treatmentmay be treated in the other compartment. My improvement thus provides for the treatment of vegetables, fruits, oysters and the like ina manner to improve their condition and further provides a simple apparatus for efficiently carrying out said treatment.

Various changes 1n the specific form shown and described may be made within the scope of the claims without departingfrom the spirit of my invention.

Some types of oysters when treated as above generate a large amount of foam in which case it is preferable to use the These troughs simply comprise, elongated funnels 7* having a width corresponding substantially to that of the tank and being provided with hooks 7" whereby said tiou hs may be properly suspended on the tan 5 at the end thereof. The said funnels 7 a .are open at the top and bottom and preferably have their upper ends inclined upwardly as shown. Thus when the foam generated is to be removed, it is simply scraped from the surface of the water in the tank 5 into said funnels 7 by means of a paddle or thelike and passes out through the same as will be clearly apparent Instead of the troughs 7 or funnels 7 the outlet pipes 8 may be directly connected with the apertures 6 if desired. 1 k

-While I have described my improvement specifically in connection with oysters and the like it is to be distinctly understood that this is only anexample'and. that the same is equally well adapted for use'as an eficient washing apparatus in many other connec- M tions as will be readily apparent.

I claim I 1. An-a'pparatus for treating food stufi's comprising a container for a, liquid in which said food studs are immersed, a removable air compression chamber 111 -Sa1d container comprlsmga continuous and endsaid air is evenly normally sealing less side wall and a transverse wall connected with said continuous and endless side wall throughout, said compression chamber being provided with perforations whereby air is distributed to said liquid andmeans for introducing air into said compression chamber.

2. An apparatus for which said food studs are immersed, a member located in said container at a distance above the" bottom thereof, and means for introducing air under pressure into said container and beneath said member, the

latter being provided with perforations havtroducing air under pressure into said chamber and beneath said member, the latter be ing provided with perforations whereby distributed to said liquid.

treating foodstuffs comprising a container for a liquid, in

4. An apparatus for treating food stuffs I comorisihg a container for a liquid, in which said food stuffs are immersed, a removable corrugated dished member located at the bottom of said container in an inverted condition to form an inclosed chamber, said member having perforations in the corrugations, the outlet ends of which are arranged at an angle to the vertical, a removable foraminated element in said container at a distance above said member and'means for introducing air into said inclosed chamber and through said, perforations and foramina.

5. An apparatus for treating food stuffs comprising a container for a liquid, in which said food stuffs are immersed, said container having an exit opening, a door for said opening, a removable, perforated, dished member located at the bottom'of said container in an inverted condition to form an inclosed chamber, a, removable foraminated element located in said container at a distance above said member.

and inclined downwardly toward said exit opening and means for introducing air into said chamber and through said perforations and foramina.

6. .An apparatus for treating food stufis comprising a container for a liquid, in which said food stuffs are immersed, a removable perforated member located in said container and forming aninclosed chamber at the bottom thereof, a foraminated element in said con ainer at a distance above said member and lmeans for introducing airinto said chamber and through said perforations and foramina.

7. An apparatus for treating food stuffs comprising a container for a liquid, in which said food stuffs are immersed, a channeled member located in said container at a distance above the bottom thereof and provided with perforations terminating in the longitudinal walls of said channels and having their outlet ends arranged at an angle to the vertical and means? for introducing air into said container beneath said member and through said perforations.

8. An apparatus for treating food stuffs comprising a container for a liquid, in which said food stuffs are immersed, a channeled member located in said container at a distance above the bottom. thereof and pro-- vided with perforations located in said channels above the bottomthereof and means for .the supply of air beneath each member.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE B. FURMAN.

Witnesses:

JOHN A. KEHLENBEGK, FRITZ ZIEGLER, Jr. 

